Howden Reservoir In The Sunshine

My brother loves a good hike. He also loves to climb a mountain, and throw himself off them. Unfortunately he lives 240 miles away, so rare are the opportunities for us to get out together. This weekend he was down this way, so we jumped at the chance to head outdoors.

After two days of dreary weather (though not, thankfully, the rains of Biblical-proportions that the media had threatened), we awoke to glorious sunshine. I had had two routes in mind- either Burbage or Howden Res. With my brother being a seasoned hiker, I thought the Burbage route might be too short to satisfy, so we opted for the latter.

I was sweating before I'd left the house (despite being clad in shorts and t-shirt), and the only cloud in the sky on our drive to Derwent was typically the one hanging right over our destination, so after previously poking fun at Phil for his "inappropriate" attire of full-length trousers and a long-sleeved top, I was eating my words as we got out of the car to the first drops of rain and rather cool breeze.

A bit of cold and rain wouldn't stop us though, and we were at the second dam in no time, at which point Phil lost his bearings and became convinced we were now on the other side of the reservoir and on the return leg. He couldn't have been more wrong- this was only the beginning. The wife will be thankful that we didn't carry on any further than this on our trip here a few weeks ago; from this viewpoint the trail is deceiving, and leads you to believe that the opposite side of the dam is only a couple of miles walk away.

In fact, the route twists and turns for about another eight miles, taking you through some beautiful countryside along the way. I commented in my last post that Howden felt a lot more open and natural than Ladybower, but then I didn't know the half of it. The landscape is sprawling, and access to it is unrestricted in the main.

Phil spotted a hill he wanted to climb, and after initially dismissing the idea we found a footpath that seemed to lead upwards. Ten minutes later we were at the summit, and our reward was the best views and complete peace and quiet; the perfect place to have lunch. By this time the sun had made good on its promise and we spent a good half-an-hour just laying around doing nothing.

Once back down- which as usual was harder than going up- we carried on the beaten track. The paths are solid and well-maintained, and in fact they appear to see far more use from cyclists than from hikers who, if anything, seem to head for the hills.

As I said, the route is very deceiving and just as you think you are about to turn a corner into the homeward stretch, you veer off in the other direction entirely. This air of unpredictability adds a certain pleasure to what one may (wrongly) assume might have been a rather dull walk. It is in fact anything but, with plenty of beautiful views to take in and many a side-route to hop on if you feel like having an explore.

When we finally got back to the visitors centre some twelve miles later, we had no doubt that we had earned the pie and peas on offer at the snack bar there, and devoured them with that sense of reward that comes from a good physical slog.

This won't be my last trip to Howden Reservoir. Its just a shame that the wife's knees aren't up to the whole route, as by turning back at the second dam as we did previously, you definitely miss the best of what the reservoir has to offer.

A Brief Visit to Bamford, Bradwell, Castleton, Hathersage & Howden Res

With differing work patterns making mutual time-off difficult, the wife and I managed to get a brief one-night camp out in the Derbyshire countryside last weekend, but we still managed to pack a bit in.

It was the perfect time to trial our "back-up" tent, the Vango 200+, which we bought around Christmas time but up until now hadn't had the opportunity to erect, let alone spend the night in.

Our pitch for the night was at Swallowholme campsite in Bamford, a nice little campsite predominantly accommodating caravans and motor homes, but with a separate area for tents. Our hosts were very friendly and informative and the facilities were both modern and immaculate.

After pegging out the tarps, an inquisitive duck waddled over, pecked at the tarps, then had a shit on them.

The tent was a swine to put up, helped largely by a knackered pole. An easy fix back at home with some tools, but not so much fun out in the field, so to speak. Our plan had been to pitch up then head off around Howden reservoir, but as it was threatening rain we decided to postpone our walk until the following day and explore some of the local villages instead. Upon advice from our hosts, we headed off to Bradwell for their annual carnival.....

The Bradwell carnival was a nice, low-tech affair. It certainly brought out the crowds and there was a real sense of community spirit that not even the rain could dampen, which has all-but vanished from town-life. We had a pint and a chip butty and watched the floats and brass band go by, after which there was little else to do, so we decided to head round the corner to Castleton.

Castleton looked lovely as we drove through, with plenty of nice looking pubs. We saw the sign for Peveril castle and headed for it. Unfortunately, after a further twenty minutes of driving and still no castle, we started to think we might have made a mistake. We had indeed; the castle was about three yards from the sign, and we were now six-and-a-half miles beyond our campsite in the wrong direction. Ace......

Having decided not to go all the way back around to Castleton, we then had a drive to Hathersage, where we had another pint and a waffle in the Hathersage Social Club, which despite its pub pretensions is actually a cafe with an alcohol licence. But they serve a nice waffle and the service was excellent.

From there we went back to the campsite for a hard-earned nap, then on to a local pub for tea, which I won't name because the food was crap.

Back in the tent, the rain started coming down good and proper. This didn't put off the rowdy sods in the tent next-door, who had either never been camping before or had never been taken-to-task for disturbing others. The tent proved to be waterproof, but unfortunately it wasn't gobsh*te proof.

The next morning we awoke to stiff necks and the tutterings of the bloke in the next tent who apparently also wasn't too thrilled about the inconsiderate novices, who had this stage progressed to letting their kids bounce footballs off neighbouring tents.
I had a campsite coffee before packing up and making our way to Howden reservoir.

Despite being next to Derwent reservoir, Howden res had a more open, country feel to it. Other than the designated paths of Derwent res, much of the adjacent countryside is fenced off, but not so with Howden res where you could take a stroll off the path to one side or the other, and get right down to the banks of the water if you so desired.
We made it a relatively short walk by going as far as the dam then heading back, but dragged it out by taking plenty of photos along the way.

By the return leg the sun had finally come out, a day late. I knew it was worth me packing those zip-off trousers......

Review: Hi-Tec Venture & Hi-Tec Jura

This might sound like a queer statement: I aspired to owning Hi-Tec's.

When I was a lad, if you wore Hi-Tec trainers to school you got bullied, plain and simple. But 25+ years later it seems like Hi-Tec have made a name for themselves in the outdoor footwear genre. They've won several awards and after reading many a positive review I decided that Hi-Tec could offer everything I wanted without spending a fortune. They were my footwear of choice.
That's not to say I didn't try out other (more expensive) brands as well; I did- but they did little to convince me they were worth the extra expense. And so I bought the Hi-Tec's- not one pair but three- and here is my review of two of them:

Hi-Tec Venture

I first walked into the local Hi-Tec retailer looking for some Jura's- a more-or-less full leather boot. The salesperson recommended I also try the Venture, so I did while she went way to fetch the Jura in my size. Before she had returned my mind was made up- these were the boots for me. I paid for them and was out the door without ever trying the Jura's.

The Venture is a hybrid boot made from a mixture of synthetic and leather (nubuck/suede), with a Vibram sole. It also offers a steel shank for support. The inner is exceptionally-well padded, and right from the off these were extremely comfortable.

Now its worth mentioning that in my day-to-day life, I love trainers. I love trainers like women love shoes, and I'm not going to list how many pairs I own but its more than a normal person needs. My favourite- my most comfortable- are a pair of Nike Air Max 360's (the ones with the full-length air soles). So its no small statement when I say that the Hi-Tec Venture are not only my most comfortable walking boot, but my most comfortable footwear full stop. They are that good.

In terms of use, these have been hammered. Rain wasn't a problem, they were fully waterproof as should be expected. The poor things got some special abuse in the peat bogs atop kinder scout, and until one leg went knee-deep in bog, they were laughing off the water and mud (though they needed a good clean afterwards!).

On the downside, cleaning and re-proofing them is a chore; the number of individual panels- and more so the different materials of these panels- make the cleaning process cumbersome. Re-proofing can be tiresome if using a specific proofer for each material type, i.e. a leather proofer for the leather parts and a synthetic proofer for the synthetic parts. A general one-for-all proofer makes this process easier, though personally I prefer to use a wax for leather areas. 

I can't not recommend these boots; they do what they are supposed to do; be comfortable to walk in and keep your feet dry. That they are the most comfortable piece of footwear I own, and possibly have ever owned, is a real bonus.

Hi-Tec Jura

It was after the Kinder Scout bog incident, and noticing how clean Bob's full-leather boots were (you wouldn't think he'd even stood in a puddle, never mind been shin-deep in peat bog), that I thought again to the boots I didn't buy; the Jura's.

This time around I considered many an option, albeit all within the Hi-Tec range after my positive experience with the Venture's (and also the SPHike's in between), though for some reason I kept returning to the Jura's.

Again with a Vibram sole, these mostly-leather boots feature a re-enforced toe-box and heel. The main boot is made of a 2/3rds leather section, spanning from the rear quarter of the outer to a half-way round the inner foot. I'm not sure if the tongue and rear are leather or synthetic, though Hi-Tec's suggestion is that they're leather. The insole is Ortholite and is removable. While these haven't been tested in the rain as yet, all the stitching looks sound and is double-stitched throughout, unlike the Venture.

There are still too many individual panels for my liking, but this is not uncommon at their price-point. Hi-Tec's own Lakeland boot uses less panels, with a full leather panel extending right round to the rear of the outer foot, though has a butt-stitch on the inner foot that looks less waterproof and durable than overlapping panels (it was this fact alone that made me choose the Jura's over the Lakeland's).

I must say that the fit is totally different to the Venture's; while the latter were supremely comfortable straight out of the box, the Jura's initially felt tight to the point I thought I might return them. A slackening-off of the laces and a short walk in them made all the difference, and I would have no qualms about trialling them over a day's hike.


Conclusion

Both these boots are great for relatively little outlay. Of the two, the Venture has the edge on comfort- not just over the Jura but over most trainers, shoes and boots I have ever owned- it is my go-to boot whenever I can justify wearing it, which often includes walking where really a trainer would suffice.
The Jura is a respectable boot in its own right, easier to clean than the Venture and arguably more water-tight thanks to its less individual panels and double-stitching (although I have yet to prove this to be the case), but may take some adjustment and/or breaking in.

Footwear fit is a very personal and subjective thing. Bob and the wife have Salomon's and they love them. I tried a pair of Salomon's and I found them very uncomfortable. It seems like an obvious statement but don't buy footwear without trying them on first. All my Hi-Tec's are in my native shoe size- that is to say I didn't have to buy a size above as many recommend to do.


Hi-Tec Venture

Hi-Tec Jura